This volume continues the detailed examination of the British Library Kharosthi scrolls - extremely fragile and brittle fragments of manuscript on birch-bark rolls. Although their provenance is uncertain, there are strong indications that they came from Hadda in eastern Afghanistan and were most likely written in the early first century A.D. during the reign of the Saka rulers, making them the oldest known Buddhist manuscripts.

Fragments 16 and 25 are two long, relatively narrow fragments that obviously belong to the same scroll. Two texts were written on the scroll, each by a different scribe. The first text, referred to as the Gandhari London Dharmapada, represents an anthology of verses well known in the Buddhist tradition. The second text is a series of stories concerning previous births of the Buddha and of some of his disciples.

"[As did] its predecessors, this book has . . . advanced our knowledge of Gandhari."-Journal of the American Oriental Society

"A rare glimpse into a rich world of lost Buddhist story literature..One comes away with a sense of wonder at how much Lenz has taught us from so few preserved words! The significance of these texts and the scholarly work done on them cannot be underestimated."-Bulletin of the Asian Institute

"The Gandhari canon may prove to be a crucial link in understanding the way Buddhism moved northward along the Silk Road, into Central and East Asia, even as it largely died out in India."-Chronicle of Higher Education